Form-fit shipping carton



April 29, 1958 Filed Aug. 22, 1956 J. J. CAVIN 2,832,525

' FORM-FIT SHIPPING CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS April 1953 J. J. CAVlN 2,832,525

FORM-FIT SHIPPING CARTON Filed Aug. 22, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY April 29, 1958 J. J. CAVIN FORM-FIT SHIPPING CARTON 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 22, 1956 JW W 7 m KW 7% United States Patent O FORM-FIT SHIPPING CARTON Joseph James Cavin, High Point, N. C., assignor to Carolina Container Company, High Point, N. C., a carporation of North Carolina 1 Application August 22, 1956, Serial No. 605,631

4 Claims. (Cl. 229-23) This invention relates generally to cardboard shipping containers, and more particularly to corrugated cardboard boxes for use in crating and shipping furniture.

An object of my invention is to provide a lightweight, inexpensive knock-down cardboard shipping container which may be readily assembled for use in the transportation of chairs and similar articles of furniture.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a form-fit shipping carton for chairs which may be partially folded and sealed to receive the chair, and then may be finally sealed to provided a closed shipping package.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a shipping carton which is foldable to conform with the general configuration of the article to be packed so that the minimum amount of cardboard material is required, and yet is of such a structure that a stable, durable, lightweight protecting carton is provided.

Another object of my invention is to provide a shipping carton for chairs or like articles having a main carton piece which substantially encases the chair and a second piece securely interconnected with the main carton piece and is sealed thereto to form a stable, unitary shipping container.

Another object of my invention is to provide a foldable shipping carton requiring a minimum amount of tape, gum, or stapling sealing means for forming a sturdy unitary container.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent from a study of the following specification when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the cut and scored blank of the first container piece;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the initial forming of the first container piece;

Figs. 3 and 4 show intermediate steps of folding the first container piece to form a carton;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the scored blank of the second container piece;

Fig. 6 shows the folding of the second container piece;

Fig. 7 shows the assembling of the first and second container pieces;

Fig. 8 shows the complete shipping carton; and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are perspective views of another embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the first container piece A is preferably made of double faced corrugated fiberboard having a testing rating of approximately 200 pounds, and is so cut that the corrugations are in the vertical direction in Fig. 1 to provide maximum sturdiness in the formed carton. The blank is cut and scored to form the standard front and back bottom flaps 1, 2, side bottom flaps 3, 4, and upper flaps 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. The up per flaps have tabs 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 9a, and 10a respectively. As will be explained below, enlarged slots 5b, 6b, in the tabs 5:: and 6a adjacent the back panel tab 9a function to provide stable securing means for the sealing piece B.

As shown in Fig. 2, the four carton sections are folded to form a rectangular structure and suitable sealing means, such as the gummed strip 11 in Fig. 2, join the edges 12, 13 of the container to form a collapsible unitary structure. The light-weight cartons may easily be transported in this collapsed knock-down configuration.

In the assembly steps shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the bottom flaps are folded to form the standard carton bottom and are sealed by suitable sealing means, such as gummed tape, staples, glue, or the like. The article to be shipped, which is specifically a chair in accordance with the carton configuration shown in the drawings, may then be inserted into the open box. Upper side flaps 7 and 8 are folded inwardly as shown, as are upper tabs 5a, 6a. Upper front flap 10 is folded down over flaps 7 and 8'as shown in Fig. 4. The presence or absence of the flap 10a depends upon the particular carton dimensions.

The scored second carton piece B of Fig. 5 is folded into sections 14, 15, 16, and 17 as shown in Fig. 6.

In assembling part B to part A as shown in Fig. 7, the

section 14 is inserted in slots 5b and 6b adjacent the flap 9a. The widths of the slots 5b and 6b are substantially equal to the thickness of part B so that a rather tight fit is achieved when part B is inserted into the slots.

Section 15 of part B is secured to tabs 5a, 6a of part A, and flap 17 of part B is secured to flaps 7, 8 and 10 of part A. To complete the sealing of the carton, tab 9a is folded over section 15 and is sealed thereto. If desired, tape strips 18, 19 may be applied along the edges of section 16 to further secure part B to part A.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 9, l0 and 11. As indicated in Fig. 9, the side walls of the carton body A are cut and scored to form flaps 5, 20, 7, 6, 21 and 8. Flaps 20 and 21 are connected along their rear vertical side edges to flaps 5 and 6 respectively and are provided at their upper portions with tabs 20a, 21a. The blank is so cut that the flaps 20, 21 are not connected to the box body at their forward edges or their lower edges.

In forming the carton body as shown in Fig. 10, the flaps 7 and 8 are folded inwardly as are upper tabs 20a, 21a. In Fig. 11 the vertical flaps 20, 21 are folded inwardly, flaps 5a, 6a are folded down upon tabs 20a, 21a, and front flap 10 is folded downwardly upon flaps 7 and 8. Depending upon the particular carton dimensions, the flap 10a may be folded upon flaps 20 and 21. The part B may then be assembled as described above and as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8.

Thus it is apparent that the novel carton construction provides a rigid, stable, unitary structure which is lightweight, collapsible, and readily transportable. By pro- 1 viding the part A with slots to receive section 14 of part B complete sealing may be achieved with a minimum of carton material. The sealing of section 15 of part B to the tabs 5a, 6a of part A and the subsequent folding over of tab 911 over section 15 encasing section 14 within the carton, provides an extremely sturdy corner to protect the very vulnerable part of the upholstered package. Similarly the folding of section 10 across the flaps 7 and 8 provides additional strength across the chair arms of the package. Also by the embodiment of Figs. 9, l0 and 11 the provision of flaps 20, 21 provides additional strength to the carton assembly along the front edges of the flaps 5 and 6.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes I have illustrated and described the best form of embodiment of my invention known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus described without the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An L-shaped shipping carton adapted to house chairs and similar articles comprising a carton body, said body having front and rear Walls, said. rear wall having a greater vertical dimension than said front wall, side walls having flaps folded downwardly to lie in the horizontal plane at the height of the front wall and upright portions extending to the height of the rear wall, bottom flaps secured to the lower portions of the root, hack and side walls, and tab members at the upper extremities of the vertical side wall portions and the rear wall member, the tab members of said vertical side wall portions having reduced portions adjacent said rear Wall tab; and a second carton piece cooperating with said carton body to close the upper portion of the container, said second piece having a horizontal section resting upon the side wall tabs when said tabs are folded inwardly in a horizontal plane at the level of the upper extremity of the rear wall, a first vertical section inserted in the spaces of said side wall tab reduced portions and being contiguous with the upper portion of said rear wall, and a second vertical section adjacent the upright side wall portions, said rear wall tab being folded downwardly upon said horizontal section of said second piece.

2. A shipping carton as defined in claim 1, wherein the side walls of said carton body have second flaps intermediate said first flaps and said upright portions, said second flaps being connected at their rear edges to said upright portions and being folded inwardly to lie in a vertical plane normal to the plane of said first flaps, the second vertical section of said second piece being contiguous with the exterior surfaces of said folded side wall second flaps.

3. A shipping carton as defined in claim 2 wherein d carton body front wall has a flap folded downwardly to a horizontal position upon said side wall first flaps, and a tab on said front wall flap folded upwardly to lie in the vertical plane contiguous with the lower external surfaces of said folded side wall flaps.

4. A shipping carton as defined in claim 3 wherein the second carton piece has a second horizontal section secured to said second vertical section resting upon said folded front wall flap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

